Dear Neighbor,
As the Council enters its first week of recess, my team and I are taking this time to ensure the policy initiatives we advanced throughout this past year are implemented as planned, conduct oversight over our District agencies and programs, and meet and engage with residents across the city to hear ideas about how we can best serve you.
This week, I want to key you in to two issues I’ve been working on that I think are critical to the success of the District: 1) the critical need for improved transportation options through our WMATA bus system, and 2) the interrelationship between social media and gun violence in DC.
Better Bus Letter to WMATA
Robust, reliable public transportation is absolutely critical to our residents’ daily lives. As part of WMATA’s Better Bus Network community feedback initiative, I sent a letter to General Manager Randy Clarke on Monday calling for two critical considerations to the proposed changes to our DC bus network:
- Absorb the existing Circulator routes that are currently planned to be phased out in 2025, and
- Extend the proposed routes to better preserve and enhance service across Ward 2.
Collectively, these routes connect our neighborhoods across DC to Downtown and to integral community institutions, including Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, George Washington Hospital and other healthcare facilities, and the Kennedy Center, not to mention countless businesses, community service providers, and homes.
To encourage residents and tourists to visit and support our many vibrant neighborhoods, we must make travel in the District easier and more affordable. Noting the District’s enhanced contribution to WMATA by $218 million to help close its funding gap and to support the agency's capacity to improve service and maintenance of public transit options, I urged WMATA to absorb service along the Circulator routes and preserve existing service on Metrobus routes.
Thank you to the many residents who submitted feedback to me and to WMATA about these proposed routes. I encourage you to check out betterbus.wmata.com to learn more about WMATA’s proposals.
Social Media and Gun Violence in the District
Throughout my time as the Chairwoman of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, I have heard consistently from community leaders, government agencies, and public safety organizations about one significant modern challenge when it comes to gun violence in the District: social media.
The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) conducted a recent analysis on gun violence in DC and concluded that the motive behind many shootings in the District is not a traditional gang war but rather interpersonal conflict that often stems from “the now ubiquitous social media slight.”
That's why last week, I sent a letter to the CEOs of the largest tech and social media companies to express my deep concern about the impact social media sites have on gun violence and ask them to take a proactive role in removing dangerous content to keep our communities safe.
NICJR’s analysis included interviews with dozens of District police officers, as well as with street outreach workers and violence interruption specialists, who nearly unanimously agreed that the primary driver of gun violence in the District is the deadly mix of group members “making music videos taunting or disrespecting their rivals.” The study further found that beyond music videos, other comments and posts on social media by group members also lead to shootings.
This problem has been ongoing for years, including in the tragic killing of ten-year-old Makiya Wilson in 2018, when five armed men “indiscriminately fired over 50 shots at the residents because of a petty social media feud they had with individuals who associated with that community.” Similarly, in 2020, local rapper Malick Cisse was terribly shot and killed at age 18 after an escalating series of contentious social media posts on Instagram, Instagram Live, and YouTube between him and another local rapper, William Whitaker. Whitaker eventually pled guilty to Cisse’s murder. Virtual public call-outs on social media play a clear role in instigating shootings in the real world.
As I continue to hear frequent anecdotes from young people, violence interruption specialists and street outreach workers, police officers, and prosecutors about similar videos and invitations for violence being posted on social media that lead to shootings, it is clear that social media companies ought to play a vital role in preventing and reducing gun violence in our communities by removing dangerous and inciting content.
I stand ready to engage and partner with social media companies to ensure that we use every tool we have to more effectively combat gun violence in the District. You can read my letter here.
As we continue to experience an extremely hot July here in DC, please stay safe and stay cool by visiting the dozens of DPR pools and spray parks or find a cooling center near you in all eight wards.
Yours in Service,
Brooke
In the last few weeks, Councilmember Pinto and Team Pinto have been out and about in Ward 2 and across the city, including to:
- Join Kojo Nnamdi and Tom Sherwood on The Politics Hour to discuss truancy, the decrease in carjackings by almost 50%, and what's at stake for DC with Home Rule under attack. Listen here!
- Speak with White House partners to discuss opportunities to collaborate around shared goals in DC, including around infrastructure and climate investments, innovative housing solutions, and coordination with the new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
- Host Pride Month Community Office Hours at The Little Gay Pub in Logan Circle. Thank you to all who joined and to The Little Gay Pub for having us!
- Speak at the Committee of the Whole’s hearing on truancy reduction to ensure the legislative solutions the Council moves forward will make the meaningful improvements our kids deserve.
- Meet with Director Kristy Love of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to discuss how the public safety agency ecosystem can work together to make the District safer for all residents.
- Host the Urban Leaders Fellows as they focus on research and legislative projects in service of Ward 2 and the District.
- Toured the first-of-its-kind LGBTQIA+ Center in Shaw with Board Member Rehana Mohammed and Deputy Director Kimberley Bush.
- Hold a Judiciary Committee hearing and markup to move forward the HSEMA Director, Clemency Board, & Science Advisory Board nominations; Female Genital Mutilation Prohibition Act; and the UPLIFT Amd Act.
- Attend the last legislative meeting of the session, during which we voted on and approved nominees to various public commissions and boards, updated cannabis regulations, and established a new truancy pilot to help get kids in school, amongst many other issues.
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- Speak at the Golden Triangle BID Annual Meeting to discuss how to build momentum off critical budget investments to see Downtown flourish.
- Meet with DC Attorney General Schwalb to confer about how our offices can collaborate to make a safer District, especially by supporting young people and addressing truancy.
- Begin our annual school readiness tours with tours at Seaton Elementary and Hardy Middle School to ensure our students and faculty have what they need to have a successful School Year 2024-2025.
- Visit an training facility in Maryland for professions in construction trades from carpentry to electrical as we work to build out our apprenticeship and job creation pipeline across the region.
- The Washington Informer: The Collins Council Report: The Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Support Act. “‘I’m continuing to identify potential options that aim to mitigate taxes on seniors, low-income residents and those on fixed incomes,’ Pinto told her council colleagues on Tuesday. ‘We have the greatest responsibilities as a body and it’s one we’ve taken seriously. We’ve come a long way to meet residents’ concerns and move forward a District that provides fundamental safety and a competitive opportunity rich place to do business.’”
- The Washington Informer: The Collins Council Report: The Legislative Meeting before Summer Recess. “The nominees [to the D.C. Clemency Board] – Dr. Amber Thornton, Attorney Mark Rollins, and Dominic ‘Chip’ Henry — each have professional backgrounds and experiences that D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, said would ‘add valuable expertise and perspective to the board.’... In an email to The Informer, Pinto cited Rollins’ ‘strong advocacy skills, extensive courtroom experience, local mentorships, and deep understanding of criminal law’ as assets to the D.C. Clemency Board.'”
- Watch: WUSA9: DC neighbors working to block central cell block near Convention Center. “Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto said she has been talking to the Executive to make sure that this space truly is only temporary while renovations are made to police HQ."
- WTOP News: DC Council holds roundtable on moped ‘accountability’ bill. At a D.C. Council committee roundtable Thursday, Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto said her office has received an overwhelming number of complaints about moped operators. The complaints range from operators riding on the sidewalk, ‘sometimes undermining safety of pedestrians, riding in bike lanes, not having license plates, not using helmets,’ she said. Pinto and council member Charles Allen, who chairs the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, were quick to point out that they didn’t want to single out moped users but safety was their top concern.”
- The Department of Energy and Environment’s Racial Equity Action Plan is open for public comment. Public input will be used to guide how the plan changes from year to year. Read the plan and share your thoughts at doee.konveio.com.
- Stay cool this summer! DPR-run splash pads and pools are open for the summer. For updated locations and hours, check out this link.
- The Department of Energy and Environment invites you to recycle unwanted electronics this summer! There will be collection vehicles throughout the city in each ward as follows:
- Saturday, July 19 – Ward 3
- Saturday, July 27 – Ward 5
- Saturday, August 10 – Ward 1
- Saturday, August 24 – Ward 7
- Saturday, September 7 – Ward 6
- Saturday, September 14 – Ward 8
- Saturday, September 21 – Ward 4
- Learn more about where the collection vehicles will be and what can be recycled at http://www.rev-log.com/DCecycling.